Bound by the Heart
by Naferian
Summary: Hawke, a sarcastic, emotional teenage guy. Setsuko, a cold, contemplating teenage girl. These acquaintances in the real world find their reality replaced when they find themselves trapped within the world's first VRMMORPG: Sword Art Online. Little did they know just how much a game would change their lives.


**A/N: ****Hullo there, anyone who happens to be stumbling upon my first fanfiction. I always attempt to write stories based around SAO, but I have never had ideas flow like I do for this one. Anyways, this is just a quick little prologue, nothing special. As a general rule of thumb, I'm doing my best to avoid actually interfering SAO's canon. Kirito and Asuna may make appearances, but just as cameos. Thankfully, because SAO naturally has massive gaps between each floor, I can use those to include other characters, as you'll see in this chapter. This is above all else, the story of two players and the bond that grows between them as they fight for survival. I hope you enjoy this short beginning, and thanks for clicking! (: **

"If you die in the game, the NerveGear will send a microwave signal through your skull, destroying your brain, and ending your life."

One week had passed since Akihiko Kayaba announced the true nature of his VRMMORPG, and his words still burned in my mind. Fear and disbelief must have overcame so many players. Sleep was all but impossible in this state of mind. Every established rule of reality no longer applied; the rules of Aincrad took over. Such a transition would have been most effective when done gradually, but this was all forced on me, no, the entirety of Sword Art Online's players in less than a day.

Damn you, Kayaba.

"Shinn?"

As soon as I heard my name called out, my eyes seemed to function once more. They found themselves staring at the finely crafted city ground, past my clasped hands. I turned my head next to me. Before me sat the pale-skinned, black-haired girl known as Setsuko to Aincrad. In reality, her name was Mitsuki, but before we had even entered Sword Art, she had told me to call her by her in-game name. Funny, considering she still refers to me as my real name, as opposed to Hawke. A look of worry presented itself upon her face.

"Yes?" I replied, using all the strength I had to keep my voice composed.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" I did my best to put on a smile, though I'm certain anyone could have seen right through my disguise.

For a moment, her mouth opened as if she was going to call me out on my bluff, but she instead remained silent and lowered her head, her dark hair falling upon one of her eyes, completely covering it. "Okay." Her voice was quiet, yet firm. Her arms uncrossed and found themselves resting upon her lap as she sighed.

Like her before me, I opened my mouth like I had something to say, but like Mizuki before me, I stopped myself. The desire to cheer her up pulsed through me, but it is incredibly hard to lift someone's spirits when your own have reached an all time low.

A few seconds passed before I shifted my gaze forward once more. In front of us was a massive plaza. Green grass flowed beside the flawlessly paved ground. Not too far ahead was an enormous fountain, spewing water through the air. Surrounding the fountain were at least two dozen players, all spread out into little clusters around the circular design of the fountain. Laughter and conversation filled the air; a pleasant, but unwarranted change. I doubted that anyone was truly happy, however. Rather, they'd prefer to feign joy than accept the fact that our lives were being governed by a single sociopathic man.

It was disgusting, but completely understandable. Hell, if I said I wasn't doing the same, I'd be a hypocrite.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Setsuko open her menu. She took a deep breath as she poked around the system. Normally it was considered taboo to spy on someone someone as they navigated their menus, but it wasn't the same for the two of us. Besides, she was just checking her mail, probably for exactly what I expected.

"The Bannered Mare at the edge of town."

"What?" I asked.

"Lisbeth said that's where she's staying for the night. There should be room for us."

"Ah."

Hours after the initial panic, Setsuko and I had ran into Lisbeth while looking for a place to spend the night. Perhaps girls being the minority in SAO made it easier, but despite their completely opposite demeanors, they seemed to get along relatively well, which was definitely good; had we not met Lisbeth, Setsuko and I would most definitely have slept on the ground the night. In fact, our meeting was so successful that we ended up making a pact to meet up at the end of each night, at least while we were still on the first floor. Each of us would split the cost on a room to save us a bit of col. Every bit helps, right?

"Let's go." Setsuko said, standing up from the bench and immediately walking. Without another word, I followed her lead.

Twenty minutes of travel later and the two of us arrived at the inn, which was lying just on the outskirts of Starting City. It didn't take long for my eyes to locate Lisbeth leaning against a wooden pillar in the front of the building. Seeing a wooden building sure beat the monotony of all the stone and brick buildings within the city.

"Man, you two sure took your freakin' time." Lisbeth scoffed. A devious sparkle in her eye, paired with a smirk sent a chill up my spine, though her unfitting dark brown hair helped ease my nerves. She didn't seem the dark-haired type.

"Sorry," I apologized on behalf of myself and Setsuko. My right hand found itself way behind my head as I ran my fingers through my somewhat lengthy hair, "A lot of players were headed back from the fields. Fighting past them was bit of a challenge."

"Oh?" For a moment, she actually seemed to believe me, but it faded relatively quickly. "I figured you two love birds would have been making out in the fields."

Even if Setsuko was standing behind me, outside of my vision, I could feel Lisbeth's statement catch her off-guard. "No, it's nothing like th-" My attempt to defuse the situation was interrupted by Lisbeth herself.

"Oh, please, it was just a joke. Setsuko is way out of your league anyways." Lisbeth said in what I imagined to be her most playful mocking voice. No, I take that back; Lisbeth definitely had more to her than that.

"That's so cold." I said, my shoulders hanging forward in defeat.

"Aww, jeez, I was only kidding, Hawke." Lisbeth said, her words transitioning from mocking to a more serious, monotone voice. "You're not that bad looking." As if that statement would make me feel better.

"I'm going inside with or without you two." Setsuko said, clearly beginning to get ticked off.

With those words, she pushed past into the building, and, with a shrug of our shoulders Lisbeth and I followed closely behind.

**A/N: And with that, the prologue is done. Thank you for reading, and if you wouldn't mind leaving a quick review, that'd be fantastic! Thanks again!**


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